Jacob's War
by DarylDixon'sgirl1985
Summary: Jacob Kowalski goes off to a war he never wanted to fight. He was drafted after all. After seeing all the horrors that war involves will he be able to make some light out of the darkness that is his life. Or will he start another adventure just strange but somewhat more welcome.


**Hey everyone. This story was brought to you by Pop Figure Collection, Build-A-Bear, Games Night, Wacky Wandmakers,Coconut Smash, and Sci fi September on Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Also for Round three standard on The Houses Competition. **

**Pop Figure Collection - Samwell Tarly: Brown hair (trait) intelligent, Grey vest (object) books, and Sword (prompt) write about a reluctant fighter.**

**Build-A-Bear - Hide and Go Beep Sound (trait) Strong**

**Games Night - Dares (Dialogue) "Wait here while I go find somewhere to puke."**

**Wacky Wandmakers - Cypress (theme) sacrifice, and Snallygaster heartstring (emotion) astonished**

**Sci fi September - What is your superpower? Super Strength (trait) strong**

**Coconut Smash - Coconut 14 (character) Jacob Kowalski**

**The House Competition - Badgers, Care of Magical Creatures, Standard story, (character) Jacob Kowalski, word count is 1,132.**

**Warning for mentions of war, and death. W****ord count is 1,132****. I hope you all enjoy Jacob's War.**

Jacob Kowalski hears the screams of his dying comrades and wonders, not for the first time, why he's here. He isn't a warrior. He's a baker. He should be at home perfecting his baked goods for when he finally gets enough money together to open a shop of his own.

His mother had laughed at him when he told her that, after the draft notice had come for him. He'd been drafted, which causes a bitter laugh to bubble up in his throat from nowhere. He shouldn't be laughing at anything here but the thought of himself shooting anyone was almost ridiculous. He wasn't a killer.

"Kowalski, get your butt in gear," his commanding officer calls out to him over the ringing of gunfire, and the screams of the dead and dying. "We've got to get a move on here!"

The man's right and Jacob knows this. He knows they have to get a move on. If they sit here any longer they're sitting ducks. But then again if they go out there, they're moving targets for the German front line. It's enough to make a person want to scream in frustration but he doesn't, he has to stay strong.

Pulling his gear tight around him, he puts on a burst of speed that takes him close to one of his squadmates. The two of them are bringing up the rear, of course, they are. They are the fattest two in the group.

Kyle Westerton turns his head to smile at Jacob, opening his mouth to say something him when it happens. The first time that Jacob sees death up close and personal. The dark-haired man makes a startled noise as though something has frightened him and then a bright red patch starts to grow from the center of his stomach.

"Jacob," he says in a more questioning tone than anything falling forward quickly. So quickly that Jacob barely has time to catch him.

"We need a medic here," he calls out as he tries to staunch the flow of blood the way their books had told them in basic training. But then again books could never train you for the real thing. Never in a million years. "Medic!"

He doesn't know how long they've been sitting there for. Him just putting as much pressure as he can on Kyle's wound but he's pretty astonished that the other man's lasted this long. But then again, you don't have to be intelligent to tell by the graying of the man's skin that he's not long for this world.

"Jacob," comes the shaking voice from the ground, "give my wife this." The man has enough strength to grab his letter home out his front pocket. But Jacob doesn't want to take the letter. He'd rather see the man survive and go home to his family than die.

"Don't," Jacob says, closing the man's hand around the letter. "You hold on to this. You can take that letter home yourself."

"I'm not going to make it, Jake," the man wheezes and they both know it to be true when a bit of blood slips past the other man's lips. "Please. Promise me, Elizabeth will get this."

"I promise," he whispers to Kyle as he looks around for the medic. "But you got to promise me you'll hold on until this medic gets here. Do you hear me?"

"Jake, watch out," is the last thing that he hears before he feels a searing pain and everything goes black.

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Jacob doesn't know when he wakes up to the blazing pain in his arm but he's glad he does. The sun gleams down on him from above and all he wants to do is go home. He wants this useless war over and done with. But he knows it will be some time before that happens. Looking around he realizes that he's in a hospital near a window overlooking some city or other. It should look charming. In ordinary circumstances, it would but this war has tarnished everything. Turning the most beautiful things into something ugly.

A nurse walks over to the bed next to his and checks on the patient there. He doesn't want to take her attention away from the wounded man but he has to know if squadmate has made it. He needs to know if he's saved his friend.

"Ma'am," he says weakly, wondering again how long he's been out for, "can tell you where Kyle Westerton is? He might have even come in with me."

"I don't know but I can check for you though."

But the way she said it was enough to tell Jacob everything he needs to know about his friend. "Don't worry about," he says as he looks up to the ceiling. He blames himself. If he wasn't so damn slow. If he'd have stayed with the group and didn't stop to help those civilians, maybe Kyle would be alive still. He curses himself, this war, and everything to do with it.

"Will this ever end?" he asks himself.

He finds out not too long after that they're awarding him some kind of medal of valor or something. Not that he wants it or anything. He would rather be given a ride back to England and safety but that isn't happening any time soon. He'd been told as much by his commanding officer when the man paid a visit to the wounded soldiers in his group who were in hospital.

"As soon as you men are on your feet again, you're returning to the front," the man had said and those words rang over and over again in Jacob's head.

"Aren't you excited Jake?" asks one of the men, who looks pumped to go back to battle. "Don't you want to go back to the fighting?"

"Wait here while I go find somewhere to puke before I answer your question," he says sarcastically. He walks off leaving the man confused behind him.

############################################################################

It's months later when he is finally injured for the last and final time. He's too much of a liability, his commanding officer tells the review board and they agree. They're sending Jacob home from the war, finally. He's going home a hero but he sure as hell doesn't feel like one. The heroes are the ones who didn't get to go home, and that sure as hell isn't him.

He returns to his books and his baking, and a job at the factory but they all seem joyless to him. That is until he gets the idea to try to open his own bakery again. Perhaps he can give some of his profits to soldiers much like himself, he thinks as he walks towards the bank and the first day of the rest of his life.

**I hope you all enjoyed Jacob's War. I remember Jacob mentioning something about the war in the movie Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them so I just kind of expanded on his story a bit. I don't own anyone you recognize they belong to JK Rowlings. I hope you all enjoyed and have good evening.**


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